Seeing Through Paintings: Physical Examination in Art Historical Studies

Seeing Through Paintings: Physical Examination in Art Historical Studies by Andrea Kirsh. hardcover edition. ISBN: 9780300080469.

This user-friendly handbook to the technical examination of paintings has grown out of the professional activities of an art historian and a conservator who have been working together for many years. In a series of interesting case studies, the authors take the reader through the layers of a painting, from canvas or panel to varnish, in clear, readable language, de-mystifying the world of the conservator for art historians, dealers, collectors, or curators. Beyond presenting the necessary but perhaps dry facts, they then relate the physical attributes of the artworks to important discoveries of social history, authorship, aesthetic understanding and more. The case studies will not only guide people in looking at the art of individual artist but provide a general understanding of the physical presence of paintings. This is one of my personal favorites on the list (the manuscript editor who worked on this told me she "loved" it! -- a pleasure to read). There is no other book quite like it on the market.